1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a small watercraft, and in particular to an exhaust system for an engine of a small watercraft.
2. Description of Related Art
Personal watercrafts of the past had a relatively wide lower hulls. A personal watercraft includes an upper deck and a lower hull that form an engine compartment. The engine compartment houses an engine and a variety of related components for operation of the watercraft. The engine typically resides near the center of the watercraft partially disposed within a space between a pair of recessed foot areas of the upper deck. The space between the foot areas is designed to be sufficiently large to accommodate the engine and related components. One of these components is the exhaust manifold of the exhaust system. In the past, the exhaust manifold extended laterally from the engine in the cross direction of the hull. In order to accommodate the laterally extending exhaust manifold and engine, the lateral space between the foot areas had to be sufficiently large. As a result, the lower hull had to be made relatively wide to accommodate the large lateral space provided between the foot areas.
Generally, the wider the hull is, the wider the resulting turning radius of the watercraft will be. Consumers buy personal watercrafts for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons is the sporty nature of the personal watercraft. These watercrafts can be maneuvered much quicker and easier than most other types of watercrafts, contributing to their fun and excitement. In general, a wide lower hull makes it more difficult for an operator to lean the watercraft from side to side. This affects the turning performance because the lower hull includes outer chines that are designed to be dug into the water to facilitate turning. If an operator can not easily and quickly lean the watercraft towards a particular side, the chines do not have the opportunity to assist in the turn. As a result, the operator and watercraft experience long, slow, wide turns or large radius turns.